Retired? How do you stay entertained?

Retired? How do you stay entertained?

In our previous posts, we talked about the big questions regarding retirement and discussed everything from accommodation to finances and health. Let’s mix it up a bit and look into something really basic: How to not become bored.

Do you spend a lot of time waiting for an appointment, or often sit around and have nothing to do? At the risk of sounding redundant, if you have your mobile device with you and are connected to the internet, that problem is solved.

These days you no longer need a room full of hardware devices to perform simple tasks like writing a letter. It all fits into your pocket. But often the opposite applies, we went from being limited by location to total overkill on being spoiled by choice. 

By having a mobile device, you literally have the whole world in your pocket, so why not use it for more than making calls? 

If you are a youngster and grew up with a cellphone in your pocket, these things may come naturally, but what if as many retired people at this time, you grew up before the internet? You may be wondering what can I possibly do with a tiny black box in my pocket.

The amazing Internet.

Here is a list of things you can do with the internet from your phone and the best part is it is all free!  

Wordle

Wordle is a word game that really gets you thinking, but it’s not so demanding that you spend a whole day solving it. In fact, the whole concept is based on guessing a single word per day.

Wordle is created by the New York Times. You can play it without an account or signup for a free account to store your performance stats. 

It’s as simple as clicking HERE – or visiting https://www.nytimes.com/games/wordle/index.html

YouTube

Often articles you read online regarding retirement suggest gardening or getting your creative juices flowing with crafts and arts. Easy to say do something, but what if you gave never done something like Gardening and have no idea where to start?

YouTube is the busiest and best video site online for a good reason, you can really learn anything from there. Let’s take gardening as an example. Simply go to YouTube (https://www.youtube.com) and search for ”How to do Gardening” and you will get millions of video tutorials like this one:

Add the word “Playlist”  to your search and you get playlists containing a bunch of videos all related to the topic you are interested in like this Gardening Playlist with more than 632 video tutorials on Gardening:

As in the example searches above, you can learn everything from gardening to building rockets like Elon, on YouTube. Really Elon started out learning about rockets on YouTube.

Pinterest

The most inspirational one of them all – Pinterest is a photo pin-up board application that has evolved into a giant network with millions upon millions of high-quality photos, categorized so you can easily create your own pinboards.

So, if you ever need to be inspired for your DIY projects, decorating tips or Arts and crafts, Pinterest is a must-have.

Pinterest is a free platform and getting started is really easy by setting up a free account for full access, click HERE (https://pinterest.com).

Searching for topics is really easy, and results include not only photo pins but video clips, category links and many different suggestions of related content. A search result looks like this:

Clicking on a single pin opens all the information and allows you to pin to your own selection. It looks like this:

As you can see above, pins can be commented on, this allows you to get social. This also means that you do not simply have to follow, you can start your own following by creating boards with topic-related pins. A great way to interact, learn, educate and even if you are up to it sell your products from your crafts projects.

Coursera

Maybe now that you are retired, and you have the time, you will like to further your education. That is easy and believe it or not, you can even get certifications, signup with no requirements and more. One example will be Oxford Home Study.

There are many sites available online dedicated to studying, you can learn everything you can possibly think of. Many study websites offer free courses but for certification and further qualifications, you may have to pay.

A popular choice for studying online is Coursera, this site has a community of 107+ million people that are already learning on Coursera. This is a single place with a plethora of courses presented by big reputable learning institutions like in this list:

• Indigenous Canada: University of Alberta
• Financial Markets: Yale University
• The Science of Well-Being: Yale University
• Introduction to Psychology: Yale University
• Introduction to Statistics: Stanford University
• Writing in the Sciences: Stanford University
• Private Equity and Venture Capital: Università Bocconi
• Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills: University of Michigan
• Stanford Introduction to Food and Health: Stanford University
• Primeros Auxilios Psicológicos (PAP): Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Google Podcasts

Podcasts are a perfect addition to tweak your interests. Google offers an extensive list of podcasts that is easy to use and categorized so that you can listen to the topics you prefer.

The best thing about podcasts is that you can listen to them as it suits you, bit at a time while waiting in line or driving on long trips. 

Simply click HERE, find your topic and get going. Really as easy as that.

Google Earth

Travelling is great, but also an unreachable dream for most. Maybe you simply can’t afford to travel or you are limited by medical reasons. Whatever the case, Google Earth (https://earth.google.com) is a fun pastime – travel from your couch.

This application is downloadable from the PlayStore but works best on a desktop computer. You do not need to install a program simply visit the site and start your travels.

Voyager is a feature that guides you through different experiences on earth. It takes you to locations you can explore and gives you detailed information just as if you are on a tour with a tour guide.

You can go anywhere and visit any place. Exciting features of Google Earth include 3d view and street view. This gives you a more subversive experience. Here are some examples:

In Conclusion

The internet is something that changed the way we live life – and offers many great uses that you can put to good use on a daily basis. We are curious to know how you use the internet to stay entertained or learn new skills. If it is simply to stay socially active or maybe your retirement job depends on it, let us know in the comments below.